Meleg

Meleg is the concept that events in a person's life or in the world generally follow a predetermined course. In other languages it is called qadar (Arabic), destiny (English), destin (French), kader (Turkish). The idea arises from a basic question: are events the result of choice and causation, or do they follow a plan that exists beforehand?

Meleg is typically understood in two ways. The first is theological, in which events are described as something God or a higher power has decided. The second is philosophical, explaining causation as a continuous chain: every condition that now exists arose from preceding conditions. Both approaches raise the same question about how personal responsibility is to be assessed.

Meleg and individual choice

The most important question considered is human freedom of choice. If everything is predetermined, it becomes difficult to hold a person accountable for their actions. Philosophers answer in different ways: some hold that freedom and fate can be reconciled, since choice itself is part of the chain of causes; others hold that one must override the other.

Religion and custom

The Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—have ideas about God's knowledge and will, but they also preserve human responsibility. In Islam, fate is included in the basic beliefs, and there is a long-standing debate about how the relationship between fate and human action is to be understood.

Ancient Greek stories presented the concept of the Moirai—three women who spin the thread of a person's life—showing that even the gods are bound by fate. Other traditions, such as those of India, use karma, which ties present events to actions taken before.

Modern usage

Today the word meleg or qadar is commonly used in everyday speech when explaining an unexpected event or one that cannot be undone. Natural science does not use the idea formally; instead it uses causation and probabilistic reasoning. Nevertheless, meleg remains an important part of literature, religion, and public discourse.